


Eight Years: Eight Nights and Eight Nights

by soft_bellatrix



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Hermione is always trying to do good, Hermione is jewish, Post-Canon, but sometimes she's not doing good for herself, can she do both and maybe find love along the way too?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21942226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_bellatrix/pseuds/soft_bellatrix
Summary: Hermione Granger is struggling after the war, trying to reunite with her family and her faith and move on after the war. She adopts one of her do-gooder projects along the way and changes more than just her life.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Narcissa Black Malfoy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 119
Collections: Bellamione Cult Secret Santa 2019





	Eight Years: Eight Nights and Eight Nights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DisasterLesbean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisasterLesbean/gifts).



> As a general disclaimer, I want to make it clear that I, myself, am not Jewish, however a friend said she'd like to see Jewish Hermione and I did quite a bit of research to write this and I just hope it is a good portrayal. Dates and Yiddish words were researched and should (hopefully) be accurate.  
> The only Yiddish words I use are tate- dad, mame- mom, sheifale- lamb (endearing term for children), and neshama sheli- my soul. I'll post these words at the bottom too, so you can choose which way to scroll if you forget what they mean.

**December 18th, 1998: First Night of Hanukkah**

  
It had been over six months since the war. Why had it felt like ten years and ten seconds all at the same time? Life didn’t stop for the weary, it kept relentlessly pushing on leaving everyone to either sink or swim, time was the great unifier of us all.

  
Hermione forced herself to be present today. After spending most of the time since the war finding her parents and working tirelessly to restore their memories, she realized how lucky she was to be able to spend Hanukkah with them at all.

  
As the first candle was lit, Hermione reflected on blessings- the blessings represented by the candles and her faith and the blessings in her own life. She was blessed to be here with family right now. She was blessed to no longer be involved in a war. She was blessed to be alive. Why was it so hard to feel that way?

  
“Hermione, _sheifale_ , my only daughter, I know you carry the world on your shoulders. I wish and hope that you can find inner peace and let yourself be happy soon. You are so good.” Hermione’s dad said after the lighting of the menorah and reciting of the blessings.

  
Hermione felt her heart break a little, knowing her dad still revered her after all she had done to her parents. She knew her facade wasn’t as good as she hoped if her dad could sense her inner turmoil. She prayed a silent prayer that she would be able to do as her dad hoped soon.

  
  


**December 25th, 1998- Christmas**

  
After all the years celebrating Christmas with the boys, and by extension the Weasley’s, it was tradition, even though she never celebrated it before Hogwarts. So once again she found herself surrounded by her second family in the Weasley’s cozy living room.

  
She was happy to be with them all, not just because she loved them all, but because they needed some normalcy and festivity after Fred’s passing.  
Unfortunately, this Christmas was tense for another reason- Hermione had recently told Ron that nothing would develop between them. She wanted them to remain friends, but he hadn’t spoken to her since then, over a month ago.

  
“Hey Hermione, I’m glad you came. I think Mom would’ve cried a sixth time if you didn’t show. Er… anyways, I want us to be friends. I do. I’m just sad that I couldn’t be more for you. What can I do to be more? Please, Hermione.”

  
“Ron, I explained already. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to be tied down. I need freedom and time to figure out what I want. What I do want right now is your friendship.” Hermione said.

  
“Do you just need time? I can be the man you want. I'll wait for you.”

  
“Ugh, Ron. I didn’t want to get into this today. I don’t want a man, not now, not ever.”

  
“What do you mean? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  
“I’m going to go, Ron. We can discuss this like adults later on if you’d like.”

  
Hermione left, hugging everyone and thanking Mrs. Weasley on her way out. She wondered if this had been a mistake, but up until her conversation with Ron, it had been a good day.

  
  


**December 3rd, 1999- First Night of Hanukkah**

  
The past year had been decent. A lot of people had gotten further in the process of healing from the war. Ron had come around to what Hermione told him last year, though their friendship still had a layer of hesitancy. Hermione had finished her final year at Hogwarts and gotten a job at the Ministry working on all sorts of community development and advocacy projects meant to reunite the wizarding world. Hermione’s parents had retired and lived a fairly quiet life now: the year of lost memories aged them in a way Hermione always felt guilty about.

  
Though the year had been mostly good to Hermione, the guilt she carried was often compounded by anger at the people that led them to the war. Voldemort, the Death Eaters, the sympathizers, the bystanders- she found herself angry at all of them. The anger manifested in a pulsing, white-hot burning in her scarred arm. That arm perpetually flung spells around her empty apartment, destroying it at least once a week.

  
The following morning after an outburst, she’d find herself repairing the damage with the other arm. It’s as if her body and mind were split. Destruction came at night with her left arm. Healing in the morning with the right.

  
Hermione’s parents, as always, seemed to see right through her mask of happiness.

  
“Hermione, darling, we are so proud of what you’ve done this year,” her mother began.

  
“But, we see the unhappiness. You must learn to forgive those who wronged you, if you ever wish to live happily,” her father finished. “We love you and have forgiven you, _sheifale_.”

  
“Thank you, _tate, mame_. I am trying, it’s just so hard. I don’t know how to stop feeling this way.”

  
“Forgiveness will take you far. Talking about your problems will take you even further. You don’t have to handle it alone,” her mother said.

  
“How can I forgive them? How?”

  
“I can't answer that for you, you must find a way for yourself. But maybe begin by putting yourself in their shoes.”

  
Hermione watched the reflection of the candlelight dance in the windowpane and thought of the blue eyes that watched her struggle.

  
  


**December 25th, 1999- Christmas**

  
This year at the Weasley’s was altogether livelier. All the boys got a little drunk on eggnog and were singing dirty Christmas carols with their mouths full of pudding, while Molly chastised them.

  
There were no tears this year, even as everyone honored Fred with a round of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes fireworks that lit up the night sky for an incredible amount of time.

  
Hermione found herself and Harry standing a little ways off from the Weasley family, giving them some time to remember Fred as a family. While watching the giant dragon’s head firework shoot even smaller fireworks out of its mouth, she realized Harry is just the person who might know how to help her through the pain she’d been hiding.

  
“Harry, how did you find it in you to forgive all the people in your life that hurt you- Dumbledore, Snape, even the Malfoy’s?”

  
“Well, I can’t say it was easy. Some were easier though; Dumbledore had the greater good in mind and was trying to hurt me in the least way possible to save many. I was the one he had to sacrifice to save many, classic trolley problem.” Hermione smiled at Harry’s muggle philosophy analogy, as Harry continued, “Snape proved to me in his last minutes that he sacrificed a lot for my mother. He should’ve been doing good for better reasons, but he was still doing good. The Malfoy’s were harder to forgive. Narcissa is the only reason I’m here though, and I cannot forget that. I know you have deeper issues with her, but I’ve learned a lot about her life that would surprise you; she’s not who she wants everyone to think she is. Draco told me a lot about her. Draco and I have met a few times to grab a drink and try to put the past behind us. We still have work to do, but I enjoy his company at this point, he’s pretty funny when he isn’t being a total git. Anyways, it’s not easy. I’ve had to put in work. But it has made me a better, stronger, happier person.”

  
“I’m very proud of you, Harry.”

  
“Is there someone you are looking to forgive?” Harry asked.

  
“I think there’s a lot of people I need to forgive. But, there’s one person who haunts me the most. I think I need to start with forgiving her.”

  
“Hermione, as your best friend, I’m obligated to tell you that you won’t find the way to forgiveness in a book. It comes from within you and the willingness to offer a second chance, in getting to know a whole person and not only the actions that you saw.”

  
“You’ve really grown, Harry.”

  
“So have you, but we’re never done growing.”

  
  


**December 21st, 2000- First Night of Hanukkah**

  
“ _Tate, mame_ , I just wanted to thank you guys for always continuing to celebrate Hanukkah. I didn’t appreciate our culture and religion much growing up, but the past year I’ve taken into account how just as I was in a war and persecuted for being a muggleborn witch, our people have also been persecuted. It’s not a happy thing to have in common, but it makes me all the more thankful that we have persevered and survived. We are strong.”

  
Hermione’s mom spoke up, “we have always been strong, you especially so. You are strong for this new path in your career you’re taking. Tell us more about it.” 

“Well, I got the inspiration from Harry last Christmas. He told me that spending time getting to know the people he needed to forgive was the best thing for him. And I’ve realized that a lot of our advocacy projects at work speak for people, instead of speaking to them. So, I’ve created a program where advocates and volunteers and people just looking for answers can speak to those who were on the other side of the war. Part of the program will be getting a written account of the war from all sides, as history books notoriously are only written by the winners. The program is still in its early stages and it’s going to take a lot of work for it to even be remotely successful. However, I feel like I have made good progress so far.”

“We will pray tonight that it is a successful endeavor, _sheifale_.”

That night Hermione went to sleep and for the first time in a while she didn’t have dreams of a dagger, or screams, or ice blue eyes. And the following morning she realized she hadn’t destroyed her apartment in over a month and she felt good. She felt like she was making progress.

**December 25th, 2000- Christmas**

  
This year Hermione had to leave the Weasley Christmas celebration early. Her new project at work demanded nearly all of her time to get it off the ground.

Tonight she found herself, inexplicably, at the Malfoy Manor. The first stage of her program had required vetting all potential attention clients in the program. She was looking at all types of people from all sides of the war to interview them on their role in the war with no judgments and what their life has been like after the war. This stage would be gathering most of the history for the textbook she planned to write.

The next step would be pairing people together to create a mentorship type program, there would be a lot of community service building activities, basically just uniting people who before were divided.

One of the families she was shockingly relying on to gather much of the Death Eater’s stories from the war was the Malfoy family. In fact, Hermione had gone out of her way to specifically recruit them for this program. It was a daunting task, but one she knew she needed to take not only to give her program credibility, but also a step she needed to take in her personal goal of forgiveness.

Tonight she was meeting with Narcissa. They were going to be doing an in-depth mutual interview about each other‘s family life and upbringing and how that led to the sides of the war they were on.

The beginning of the interview was terse, each woman sitting across from each other separated by a glass coffee table, steaming cups of tea sat untouched. Finally, Hermione broke the silence by asking Narcissa, “do you celebrate Christmas? Sorry that this interview was scheduled for tonight, we are trying to wrap up all the preliminary interviews before the New Year.”

“I tend to celebrate Yule, however, when Draco was growing up we would celebrate Christmas as well. Now that he’s grown up we don’t have many festivities on this day, but we always have breakfast together. Do you celebrate Christmas?”

“I’m actually Jewish, so I celebrate Hanukkah. I do celebrate Christmas most years with Harry and the Weasleys, but for me, that’s more of a celebration of friendship and family. Hanukkah is a much more culturally and religiously important holiday to me.”

“I’ve heard of Hanukkah, but I actually do not know much about it but that’s…good that you have something to celebrate.” All of Narcissa’s replies were quiet and she was clearly trying to be cordial as possible, which Hermione was quite shocked by.

“Today is the fifth day of Hanukkah. If you’re interested, I could tell you a little bit about it. This interview is to get to know each other better and this is a big part of my life.”

“Sure, that would be amenable, I suppose.”

“Well, Hanukkah is an eight-night celebration, there’s a menorah and each night you light an additional candle. This symbolizes our early Jewish ancestors who only had enough oil to light a candle for one night and it miraculously lasted for eight nights, we use these eight nights to celebrate and pray for all of our blessings. I try to think of something each year during Hanukkah that is a blessing in my life or that represents the kind of hope that I’m sure my ancestors felt during those eight nights. This year that blessing has been getting the support to begin this program, and I am hopeful that it will spread light and understanding to us all,” Hermione explained, feeling her face grow warm at talking so much about her muggle culture to someone who watched her tortured less than three years ago.

Narcissa was silent for a moment, finally speaking with her eyes lowered to her mug, “I had my reservations about meeting you and involving myself in this program at all, however, I have heard a lot from my son about all that you and Harry are doing in the ministry to make this world better for all of us, even us, even after what we did to you. I found myself stuck in a life I never wanted but had no choice and no opportunity to leave and now it’s over and I do see hope and light in this program in that I can share my story, finally. Your muggle tradition confuses me; needing a light to stay lit is simply nothing I have ever struggled with, but I can see this is just another way my upbringing sheltered me.”

The night passed by in a blur. Hermione found herself appalled by the stories shared, not because of what Narcissa did, but what she endured. Neither woman was aware just how much time had passed until a giant grandfather clock in the next room began chiming to signal that it was midnight.

After that, the two women agreed that this project was going to take a lot more time than expected and agreed to begin meeting once a week to work together. It turns out that Narcissa had once been a writer, but had been forced to give it up to become a mother. At this revelation, Hermione realized that to eliminate possible biases bringing Narcissa on to co-author the textbook would be beneficial for both of them.

It was a surprising night, but they both did feel hopeful. Guarded, but still hopeful, nonetheless.

  
  


**December 9th, 2001- First Night of Hanukkah**

  
So much had changed in a year. Hermione’s project was now well-known and well-regarded. Her friendships were strong. Her anger was rare. The textbook was nearly complete, it was being edited and photos were being searched for to accompany the texts; it would hit the shelves before school began next year. She had found a lot of forgiveness in some part of her heart that had been unlocked in the last year.

She maybe even found love. Unexpected, certainly, but undeniably there.

“ _Mame_ , how did you know you and _tate_ were in love?” Hermione asked.

“Well, it wasn’t always clear to us and we got there at different times. But, one day I realized that I could handle whatever life threw at me if I was going home to your father at night. He was safe when I needed it, but adventurous when life was boring. I spent every day wondering what new thing I could learn about him when it felt like we’d already learned everything about each other. And every little thing I learned, I loved. Not to glamorize the journey, because we absolutely did struggle. But we chose to struggle because the alternative was giving up and that was unthinkable.”

Hermione’s mother paused and met her daughter’s eyes before continuing, “are you in love with someone, sweetie?”

“I don’t know, _mame_ , I mean I think so...no, I know I am. But it’s not somebody I should be in love with. I don’t know what to do. I’m going crazy.”

“Love is a blessing, but it is not always comprehensible. It is something that just happens to us at the start. You can embrace it or you can run, but this is not a time to run from blessings. Who is it? Do they love you back?”

Hermione turned red and threw herself face down on the couch, mumbling into the cushions, “I think so, it’s possible. But I think we are both thinking that we shouldn’t do this.”

“Hermione, who is it?”

After a lengthy pause, Hermione finally spoke, “it’s Narcissa.”

“The one you are writing that book with? The woman who watched, you, my-” Hermione’s mother’s voice broke, “m-my only child, get t-tortured?”

“I forgave her. After you and _tate_ convincing me it will help me. And it did. And then it went further than forgiveness; we became friends and now I don’t know what we are. But, something’s there and it’s scary. Please, mom, don’t be upset. She never wanted me to get tortured, she still has nightmares about it. Please, please, understand.”

“You are an adult and I must trust you, but please Hermione, _sheifale_ , be careful. You are my biggest blessing.”

**December 25th, 2001- Christmas**

  
Hermione spent most of the day at the Weasley’s, surrounded by laughter and joy and new babies. Harry and Ginny had already had one kid, with another on the way. George and Angelina had a newborn Fred with them. Fleur and Bill adopted a wonderful little girl. There was happiness in the air.

The feeling was infectious, and Hermione chose to reflect on her mother’s words from earlier in the month...well the words right before she found out who Hermione was in love with. The words of encouragement. Those words emboldened her.

  
She left shortly after dinner and gifts were exchanged, claiming she had too much work to finish up. That was true, but she wasn’t sure that this night would end in work.

  
She found herself at the doorstep of Malfoy Manor, palms sweating with a gift in tow.

Narcissa opened the door, clearly shocked to see Hermione standing there looking nervous.

“Hi, Narcissa. Sorry to interrupt your Christmas once again. I have something I wanted to give to you and I couldn’t wait any longer.”

“Please, you are never an interruption. Come in, darling.” Narcissa grabbed Hermione by the elbow and pulled her inside, the touch electrifying them both. “I didn’t know you were planning on getting me a gift, I feel inadequate as I don’t have one for you right now. I figured since you observe Hanukkah, you wouldn’t do Christmas gifts.”

  
“Well, I get them for all of the Weasley’s and Harry, so I’ve gotten used to buying gifts for...friends. But I wasn’t originally planning this to be a Christmas gift, I just received it at the perfect time and I want you to have it. So, do not feel bad for not getting me anything, I don’t want anything more than your company right now.”

  
Narcissa pursed her lips, still displeased with herself for this oversight. She didn’t become the socialite of Britain without knowing when to get someone a gift. Regardless of that, she took the gift from Hermione’s hands and began delicately unwrapping it.

  
The sparkling wrapping paper fell to the floor, forgotten as soon as Narcissa realized what she was holding.

  
“It’s an advance copy. Obviously you know there are still photos being added, but this was made so I could see what all our hard work is going to result in. It’s one of a kind and I wanted you to have it as a thank you for everything this past year,” Hermione explained.

  
Narcissa reverently ran her finger down the spine of the beautifully bound book that they had created. She flipped open the cover and saw a handwritten note from Hermione on the inner cover.

  
_Narcissa,  
  
_ _I can never thank you enough. You have opened my eyes in the past year. I never thought I could forgive you, let alone long for your company and to hear your laughter and see the sparkle in your eyes. But I do. I’m inexplicably caught up in your being. You are so strong and so capable. I cannot wait to see what you accomplish with the rest of your life. I hope I can be there beside you, cheering you on._   
_Thank you for creating this with me. Thank you for agreeing to work with me and believing in my vision._   
_I love you.  
  
_ _xx Hermione Granger_

  
Narcissa’s hands were shaking when she looked up and saw Hermione looking at her, eyes filled with anticipation. “Hermione, do you mean what I think you mean by this?”

  
“Yes. I needed to tell you. Something has happened to me in the last year, but I think it’s happened to you, as well.”

  
A silence stretched between them until it became uncomfortable. Hermione began fidgeting with her hands, worrying about the way she had chosen to do this.

  
“Hermione, we cannot do this. We simply cannot. It’s not right. There’s too much that sets us apart, I cannot bring you down. I’m sorry. Thank you for the beautiful gift, but I am so sorry. We cannot.”

  
Hermione’s eyes were brimming with tears and she pleaded like a child, “Narcissa, please, we are proving that we are not that different. We are doing good work. People don’t run from you or spit at you anymore. You are good. We can. We can do this. Please...we can.” The last words were whispered, as she saw Narcissa shaking her head softly.

  
“Maybe you can, but I cannot.” Narcissa set the book down on the table and grabbed both of Hermione’s upper arms and pulled her close, softly kissing her forehead and then resting their foreheads together. “I am so sorry, you must go. Please.”

  
Hemione left, tears running down her face in an endless stream.

**December 1st, 2002- First Night of Hanukkah**

  
For the first time in years, Hermione didn’t spend Hanukkah with her parents. She sat alone in her apartment, clutching the now extremely worn note she had received a few days after Christmas last year.

_My darling Hermione,_

_I was too cowardly to say this to you the other evening, afraid it would hurt us both even more in the long run, but I simply cannot let you feel that I did not want to return your affections.  
_ _I love you too.  
_ _Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the rest of what I said that night. We cannot do this. You are too young, too pure, too good for this world. I am too old, too corrupt, too hated. I will ruin your life before it even starts.  
_ _Society would never allow us to be together. Your work will change that for future generations, I am sure of it, but we are cursed to have seen all that we have and be in this time that will not allow us to be together.  
_ _You will find someone better, and I will wish you all the happiness when that day comes. My love for you is greater than my foolish wants of having you all to myself.  
_ _Don’t cry over me any longer, I am not worth your tears. Be strong and continue finding blessings in the world. You have my love and support from the shadows, now and always._

_xx Narcissa_

Hermione wished she could follow the advice in the letter, but life was too cruel, and she was still in love with a woman who hadn’t returned any of her letters since that day.

**December 25th, 2002- Christmas**

  
Christmas was another somber affair. She lied to the Weasley’s and told them that she was traveling with her parents during Christmas. She wasn’t. She was still stuck in bed, reading that note and spilling tears for the woman who told her not to.

  
The only thing that pulled her out of bed, was a gorgeous tawny owl tapping on her window late that night.

  
She took the letter attached from the owl’s leg and it promptly flew away.

  
_Hermione,  
  
_ _I don’t know to what extent you were involved with my mother. But it has been a year of hearing her nightmares come back and her screaming your name in the dead of night. They had been subsiding and once she stopped meeting with you, they came back worse than before._   
_I snooped; I will not lie. I found a journal tonight after she fell asleep and I only read today’s entry. It simply said ‘Day 365- H, I still love you.’_   
_I don’t like to make these assumptions because I still think you are a bushy-haired know-it-all, and I’m appalled that my mother may think differently. However, please fix it. Fix her. Talk to her. Wait for her. Whatever is happening here, please save my mom._   
_She hasn’t been the same in a year.  
_   
_Draco Malfoy_

**December 19th, 2003- First Night of Hanukkah**

  
Hermione’s father opened the door and let Hermione in, giving her a large hug as she passed by him. “We are glad you are back with us this year, _sheifale_. We missed you last year.”

  
“I’m glad to be back, _tate_. Last year was hard, but I’m trying to feel better. It’s better to be with you guys, than shutting myself up in my apartment.”

  
“Have you talked to her, Hermione?” her mother asked.

  
“A little. But she’s stubborn. She still thinks that we shouldn’t pursue a relationship. Yet at the same time, we both know how we feel. How we still feel about each other. I’m trying to break down her walls, but they’re nearly impenetrable.”

  
“Don’t give up if you think she’s worth it,” her father said.

  
“I’m not going to give up.”

  
Her parents looked at her in approval and her father began reciting the blessings, happy to be with his only child celebrating their faith.

**December 25th, 2003- Christmas**

  
“Hermione, I heard they included your textbook in the curriculum next year, congratulations!” Harry, the ever-supportive best friend announced right as she walked in the door.

  
Hermione laughed at his enthusiasm and thanked him and everyone else throwing their congratulations her way.

  
“Hermione! I’m glad you made it, something showed up by owl a few minutes ago addressed to you,” Ginny said, pulling on Hermione’s arm and leading her to the kitchen where a large package sat.

  
Hermione was confused about why anything would be sent to her today and why it would come to the Weasley’s, but she opened the package nonetheless.

  
Ginny had rushed over to her mom and began helping her cook the Christmas feast, so luckily it was loud enough in the kitchen that nobody noticed her breathless gasp as she saw what was inside.

  
Inside was a beautiful arrangement of flowers with a note that read:

  
_I miss you like the moon misses the sun_   
_I love you like plants love the rain_   
_I’ll wait for you like the whole world waits for the frost to melt_   
_Please come back, like a monarch migrating home_   
_I want to be your sun and rain and warmth and I want to be your home_

**December 7th, 2004- First Night of Hanukkah**

  
“Narcissa, we are so glad to finally meet you. We’ve heard a lot about you over the years,” Hermione’s mom ushered both women inside, appraising the older woman, as Narcissa gracefully removed both her and Hermione’s coat.

  
“I’m sure it was not all the best and I wanted to be here this year to show you who I really am and prove that I really do love Hermione. I also know how important this holiday is to Hermione and I want to share what matters to her because she matters to me.”

  
“Well, we appreciate that you care enough to be a part of such an important night in our family,” Hermione’s dad said.

  
The night passed by with little issue, all of them finding easy topics to discuss through most of the night. Near the end of the night, both of Hermione’s parents took the opportunity to interrogate Narcissa individually.

  
Hermione was nervously picking at her fingernails, anxiously awaiting when they would return. Surprisingly, they all came out laughing as if they were good friends.

  
Narcissa returned to her side and threw one arm around Hermione’s waist, squeezing her gently and whispering in her ear, “I’ve had a lovely night, thank you for allowing me to be here and to be in your life. I love you.”

  
“I love you too, sweetheart,” Hermione whispered back, lost in Narcissa’s bright blue eyes, feeling whole and happy.

  
On the way out of her parent’s house, both parents told Hermione that Narcissa was lovely and always welcome in their home. Clearly whatever they had discussed without her had gone well.

  
The snow shone bright on her parent’s lawn, and Hermione found she didn’t need to wait for the frost to thaw because every part of her was warm.

**December 25th, 2004- Christmas**

  
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me, Cissa?” Hermione pleaded again, sad to leave her girlfriend for even a few hours.

  
“I think you need to break the news to everyone without me there. I know I am not as hated as I used to be, but of all people, they are the ones with the most to be angry at me about.”

  
“Harry will be there, he loves you.”

  
“Harry manages to love everyone; he is gifted with immeasurable kindness. Last time I saw Molly and Arthur, the same could not be said,” Narcissa reasoned.

  
“I understand if you don’t want to go before I’ve had the chance to explain to them that we are dating, but I hope one day you will be confident enough to come with me.”

  
“One day, I promise you, little lion.”

  
Narcissa saw Hermione out the door with a not so chaste kiss and wished her good luck, reminding Hermione that she can come home whenever and that she’d be up waiting for her.

  
The time spent at the Weasley residence was nerve-wracking, with Hermione constantly gathering her courage and then being interrupted by a louder, bolder voice around the table.

  
Finally, Harry spoke up, “Hermione you’ve been rather quiet this evening, are you okay?”

  
“Er, yes, I am okay. I’m great actually. I have something to tell you guys, but please stay calm.”

  
“You’re shagging Draco’s mum,” George yelled with his mouth full.

  
Hermione turned beet red and spluttered, “h-how did you know?”  
  


“We were supposed to wait for Hermione to tell us, you git,” Ginny slapped her brother’s arm and looked at Hermione sheepishly.

  
“Well you know I keep in touch with Draco now, er, he may have let it slip and I told Ginny of course because she’s my wife and she told Molly and now everyone knows. Sorry Hermione,” Harry explained.

  
Hermione looked around the table at all the guilty faces and George’s laughing one, mouth still full of food.

  
“Honestly, Hermione, it’s better this way. You should’ve seen the way Mum and Ron reacted when they first found out, but now we’ve all come around to the idea. We’re happy for you, as long as you are happy. And being treated well! I’m not afraid of her, she can see what it’s like to be at the end of my Bat-Bogey Hex if need be.”

  
Hermione giggled despite herself, “she treats me exceptionally well. Please don’t hex her. I really do love her, and I want you all to get along if I start bringing her ‘round.”

  
The rest of the night passed quickly with many rounds of drinks being poured and promises that she would bring Narcissa with her to the next event.  
Hermione was thrilled. She never imagined her life could be so good.

**December 25th, 2005- First Night of Hanukkah, Christmas**

  
“Come on darling, we’ve got a busy night ahead of us. Stopping at my parents and the Weasley’s and we are already running late,” Hermione yelled from the front room.

  
“They won’t care if we are a few minutes late, sweetie,” Narcissa shouted back from the bathroom where she was still getting ready.

  
“My parents pride themselves on being very punctual people, they will care!”

  
“I guarantee you that this time they will not care,” Narcissa emerged from the bathroom and strutted towards Hermione.

  
“Wow, you look amazing, now can we please go?”

  
“You look stunning yourself, my love. We can go in one moment; I just need to do one quick thing first.”

  
“What else do you need to do?” Hermione asked.

  
“This,” Narcissa said as she got on one knee, “Hermione Jean Granger, I have loved you for four years. Four years and I spent half of that being a stubborn old bat refusing to accept the love you tried to give back to me. But I got over myself and allowed myself to really live as freely as I’ve always dreamed and I am overwhelmed by how happy you have made me. I cannot imagine spending another minute without you. The first time we got to know each other was on Christmas and that night you told me just how important Hanukkah was to you; what better day to ask you to be my wife than today when it is Christmas and the first day of Hanukkah all at once. I want to be with you for every tradition and holiday and Tuesday and sick days and good days and bad days and every day for the rest of our lives. Hermione, will you marry me?”

  
Both women looked at each other with tears streaming down their faces, before Hermione also knelt to the ground and grabbed Narcissa’s face with both hands and shouted, “yes!” while peppering every inch of her face in kisses.

  
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” Hermione said again, beaming and feeling as if she might just burst from the inside out.

  
Narcissa took Hermione’s left hand and slid a stunning ring onto her ring finger. “I do not think they will be angry at us for being late, now,” Narcissa said while chuckling and feeling complete adoration from the way Hermione was looking at her.

  
“You might be right this time, _neshama sheli_ , but we’re never running late again,” Hermione laughed along with her fiancée.

  
“I can assure you that with me as your wife-to-be that is simply not the case, babydoll.”

**Author's Note:**

> tate-dad  
> mame- mom  
> sheifale- lamb (endearing term for children)  
> neshama sheli- my soul


End file.
